


stars asking for permission to fall

by artaemin



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Attempt at Humor, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Little Harem for the OC tbh, Meet-Cute, Picnics, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:21:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28532835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artaemin/pseuds/artaemin
Summary: She scrolls through her phone contacts. Hitoka is the first name to catch her eyes. She puffs out all the air in her lungs, takes one deep breath, and presses the call button. It rings. And rings. And rings and rings and rings until the sound gets overwhelmed by the singing of the cicadas from all around her. Maybe she could try Kiyoko? She’s so cool though, wouldn’t it be deadly embarrassing to ask her for help? Maybe she’ll keep her as a last resource. She has Tadashi’s number and her whole face lights up for a moment before she remembers that he’s away visiting some relatives. That’s not fair. As if the place was wrapped into a fairytale, Natsuko feels cursed by that uncanny poster, so she starts walking away, hoping to get the right direction this time, while her nose is still stuck to her phone, so close to her face as if she could talk with her friends by some sort of weird telepathy. There’s Tsukishima. But. ah, she isn’t actually supposed to have his number. Tadashi gave it to her for some reason she can’t recall at the moment, but he’d surely be bothered if she called him. What about Shoyo?“What about him?” A deep voice asks her, making her jump and bump into whoever just talked to her.
Relationships: OC/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Kudos: 5





	stars asking for permission to fall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jellyelly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jellyelly/gifts).



> hi!! i wrote this commission for jellyelly  
> the original character and all about her belongs to them!

That building looks overly familiar. Natsuko narrows her eyes suspiciously, glaring at the building as if her gaze was enough to morph it into something different. The three store beige building with a little convenience store at the street level floor. But of course there could be more than one building like that in the entirety of Miyagi, this is just a coincidence, isn’t it? She did pass a _similar_ building two times already, but that one had a closed shop next to it with its shutter all the way down and a rain ruined poster of-- Her eyes shift and _ah, here it is, that creepy ice cream poster._ There’s a personified ice cream cone on the poster, offering popsicles to a little group of children. Someone had written _man eater_ over the ghastly ice cream’s head. Natsuko sighs. This means she’s been walking in circles again. This is her third time in the past two hours to get goosebumps over that silly odd poster. Not that she’s scared, she’s just terribly lost. 

She and her family drove in their little crumpled car all the way to Miyagi, windows down in a vain attempt to get the suffocating damp heat out of the vehicle, but only managing to bring in more warmth in. Her face was a mess of sweat and crimson hair sticking to her forehead when they finally parked near her aunt’s house. The lovely woman stroked her hair and pushed the sticky strands away from her face. It almost made her sad that they’re not meant to stay longer, just until her father is done with some work business. Surely, she wasn’t supposed to spend her time there getting lost. C’mon, this place isn’t even that big, what’s wrong with her? Her eyes glance once again at the spooky poster, chills running all over her warm arms, when she finally decides to bring her phone out of her pocket and ask for help. Someone from Karasuno could surely help and come rescue her. Her cheeks go pink with embarrassment at the idea of begging for help over something this stupid. 

She scrolls through her phone contacts. Hitoka is the first name to catch her eyes. She puffs out all the air in her lungs, takes one deep breath, and presses the call button. It rings. And rings. And rings and rings and rings until the sound gets overwhelmed by the singing of the cicadas from all around her. Maybe she could try Kiyoko? She’s so cool though, wouldn’t it be deadly embarrassing to ask her for help? Maybe she’ll keep her as a last resource. She has Tadashi’s number and her whole face lights up for a moment before she remembers that he’s away visiting some relatives. That’s not fair. As if the place was wrapped into a fairytale, Natsuko feels cursed by that uncanny poster, so she starts walking away, hoping to get the right direction this time, while her nose is still stuck to her phone, so close to her face as if she could talk with her friends by some sort of weird telepathy. There’s Tsukishima. But. _ah,_ she isn’t actually supposed to have his number. Tadashi gave it to her for some reason she can’t recall at the moment, but he’d surely be bothered if she called him. What about Shoyo? 

“What about him?” A deep voice asks her, making her jump and bump into whoever just talked to her. 

“Ah-- Sorry-- What-- I’m--” Natsuko’s hands are flailing around, trying to apologize and protect herself at the same time. However, in the sudden shock she forgot to actually move away from the stranger she just bumped into. So it is the boy to turn around and take a step back, towering her in all of his height and muscles. Natsuko isn’t one to feel _smallI,_ despite her not stellar height, but-- “Ushijima-kun?” Out of all the people she could run into why did it have to be one of the most intimidating and best aces in the region?

“You’re looking for the Karasuno High School?” he asks her. 

“Ah, yes… How can you tell?”

“You were thinking out loud. I’m not familiar with everyone from that school but I certainly know Hinata-kun.” Wakatoshi furrows his brows and she feels so little, like a little cicada being compressed by the heat of the summer. However, there isn’t any sign of maliciousness in the features and sharp lines of Wakatoshi’s face. More than anything, he looks genuinely concerned for her. “Are you lost? Karasuno isn’t far from here, but you’re walking in the wrong direction.”

“Ah, yeah.” She attempts a chuckle. “I don’t have my way with direction and all that stuff, ya’ know?” That’s when she notices the sound of many shoes against concrete, closing in and drawing the cicadas’ sound away. There’s something ideally comforting about that idea, and when Natsuko turns around to look, she notices a group of guys jogging towards them, all of them wearing the Shiratorizawa purple shorts and tees so white they reflect the sun so strongly it hurts her eyes to look at them.

“Wakatoshi-kun, did you have a heart attack?” Someone from the group calls. He has red hair like her, but of a different shade, and the corners of his lips curl in a pretty way when he talks. When he waves towards them, Natsuko notices the bandages around his fingers. _He must be their famous middle blocker, what’s his name again?_

“I did not. Why are you asking something like that?” 

The other guy smiles, and something about him makes him look like an old cat sunbathing . “What else could have stopped our Ushijima from running alone all the way back to school and start practice?”

And so it ends up that Natsuko finds herself surrounded by the entire Shiratorizawa volleyball team, the boys looking between her and their ace with curious glances. Something about it reminds her of being on stage, when the blinding lights morph the cheering and vulture crowd into indistinguishable shadows, looming and lurking like nightmares that she has to fight with her music. To put it simply, she’s not the happiest about being their attention target, but Wakatoshi doesn’t seem to notice, used how he is to that same attention like it was a prerequisite of existing. 

Thankfully, a guy with dark hair cut in an odd bowl cut manages to put a hand around her arm, scaring her yes, but pulling her away from the middle of the pit. “You okay?” he asks. “I’m Goshiki Tsutomu, the team’s ace.”

“I thought Ushijima-kun was the ace.” Her cheeks are burning from all this sudden attention, and her skin is growing warmer, solar winds rising all around her. She tries to tuck her hair behind her hair but it doesn’t seem to work, so the burgundy strands fall into her eyes and stick to her forehead. She had almost forgotten how hot it was. 

“The more the aces the stronger the team,” he says and smiles at her. The light falling onto his hair gives the strands a blueish hue. 

“Ah-- Yeah, I guess--” Her fingers are writhing and eventually, as she doesn’t have anything interesting to say, her toes curl in her old dirty no-longer white shoes. And then, as if he could sense the uneasiness she’s emanating like electromagnetic radiation, the guy with red hair tells everyone,

“Why don’t we take the girl to the Karasuno boyos?” Natsuko really wants to decline the offer, except that it doesn’t come as one. Everyone is all agreement and smiles and enthusiastic cheering, to the point that Natsuko asks herself if she isn’t just a coincidental excuse to do something they were all silently waiting to do anyway. As always, she fails to contain her thoughts into her head.

“Maybe you are right. We lost to them, but I think none of us has accepted it yet.” says Wakatoshi. They’ve quickly formed a group, and now they’re walking all together, chattering and laughing together like a group of friends. Silently, Wakatoshi slided next to her without her noticing. She must admit that she doesn’t mind it that much, despite being a little intimidating, Wakatoshi is calmer and more introverted than the rest of the team, which makes it easier for Natsuko to insert herself and be her usual self. 

She hums and looks up. They took a turn she’s sure she hadn’t even seen before despite roaming the neighbourhood for hours, and now there are tall trees hiding them from the devilish heat of the sun. She would like to sigh with relief, but she must admit to being a bit tense, surrounded as she is by all these strong and tall boys. Not that she’s any less strong than them, but she’s not all that good yet at the whole being confident thing. It becomes the worst when she’s on stage, but thankfully she isn’t the lead singer, so she can blend with the music as if she herself was an instrument. Therefore, she is glad that her travel companion is mostly silent. And she is more than glad he fishes a handful of candies out of his pocket, all berries flavoured. His cheeks are stained of a cherry blush when she offers her some. 

“They’re not mine. Tendou-kun likes to leave me little presents,” he mumbles, looking towards the red haired guy and then away. Natsuko stares at his strong profile for a moment and wonders what kind of music would make such a boy smile. By the time she realizes that she actually has to reach her hand out and take a candy herself, her face is once again trying to steal all the color from her hair. 

“Thank you so much!” She says, a bit too loudly, making most of the team turn to throw her a glance. Which by itself would be enough, but she feels like apologizing for her sudden loudness and so, just as Wakatoshi turns his head back, she bows eagerly and bumps her head against his arm, ending up wobbling a little and losing her balance. It all lasts barely a second, before the boy has a firm but gentle grip around her arm, trying to get her back on her feet before she causes any more ruckus. 

“Be careful, Natsuko-chan.”

“Sure! Thank-- No, I mean sorry-- Uh, ya know.” She struggles to push the words out, and chuckles a bit by the end, unsure on how to end the sentence. Wakatoshi nods though, before putting the rest of the candies back into his pockets, and looking back ahead. His steady and calm presence is comforting, and so it takes her just a couple of breaths to come back to herself. Maybe she should slap herself to get her shit back together, or something. Oh God, she really hopes she didn’t say _this_ out loud. A quick and furtive glance to her travel partner reassures her though and she sighs heavily. Despite it all, it’s been a nice walk, with the boys’ constant chattering ringing in her ears like a nice background music. It makes her miss her bass. Well, purely technically speaking, it is right on her shoulder, because God forbids her to go anywhere without her dear baby, but it’s been a few days since she last played, for one reason or another, and a tingling is starting to bloom in her fingertips like a gentle reminder, a never-ending yearning.

She sees it as they approach it. The Karasuno High School. However, none of them stops or suggests walking back. It’s almost as if they’ve forgotten the reason they came all the way there in the first place. Almost as if Natsuko has become, even if just for today, part of their team, and so it is unfathomable to leave her there alone. The rest of the journey, whatever it entails and wherever it will bring them, must be taken together. It must be this realization to bring all of what happens later. 

Soon enough, outside of the gyms, she recognizes a familiar orange head, jumping up and down alongside the body it belonged to. For a moment, she forgot all her previous shyness, and started waving towards him with both of her hands, unconsciously mirroring the boy’s movement. 

“Shoooyooo-kuuun!” she called him, her delicate voice suddenly loud and vibrant like a summer afternoon. And just like that the two were suddenly running towards each other and hugging tight. When Natsuko basically lifted Shoyo off of his feet and started swinging him in the air, the rest of the crow boys were already surrounding her and the giggling boy. “I missed you,” she whispers next to his ear, with a jolt of vulnerability so painful it had to be passed on as a secret, away from the prying ears of her new friends. 

“You’re so small Matsumiya-chan could crush you, dumbass.” 

Her heart does a little weird thing when Natsuko hears Tobio’s voice, as if it could have widened all of a sudden, making itself bigger to store more affection than it was humanly possible to. Her blood must taste like vanilla cotton candy, sweet and saccharine and sticky. As she puts Shoyo down and tries to pay attention, her eyes keep jumping to Tobio, with a different kind of affection tainting her irises. Not that she knows exactly what it means. It seems that the little Natsuko is able to store a type of love unique to each person she meets, as if she could unwrap her heartstrings and attach them to her friends’ hearts to play them like a bass. 

She almost lets all this affection overflow as her mouth opens in the shape of the first syllable of _I missed you too, Tobio-kun_ , a little too intimate and personal all of a sudden. Thankfully, she gets interrupted before she can do any major damage and break from embarrassment, and everyone hears Kenjiro half laugh as he asks,

“Have you guys forgotten the keys of the gym or something? Why are you practicing in the courtyard?” 

“We’re not,” replies Koshi, appearing out of nowhere like an always welcome ghost. His smile is just one tone away from being as bright as the sun in the sky, and it somehow infects everyone with his good mood. 

“We’re going on a pic-nic!” Ryunosuke shouts.

“We’re not, we’re taking a little trip to go practice somewhere new,” Tobio shimes in.

“No, we’re not. It’s a pic-nic. Just because someone is obsessed with volleyball to the point they can’t eat without having set to someone it doesn’t mean everyone else is forced to practice as well.” Kei doesn’t even bother to listen to what Tobio has to say in response, he nods and throws a heart-melting barely-there smile towards Natsuko before putting his headphones on and turning to stare into the distance, as if he is already dreading to be home. 

Tadashi waves at her and silently slides next to her. “What brought you and the big guys here?”

“You are the big guys now!” Then she knows what she has to say. _I got lost. I needed help._ But she doesn’t want to, doesn’t want to be seen as helpless and clumsy. Almost as if she had expressed her worries out loud once again, Wakatoshi is back next to her, squishing her between him and Tadashi.

“We bumped into each other while we were out for a jog. She wanted to come here so we figured out we could lengthen the practice and come pay a visit.” Natsuko realizes that she’s been deeply glad to every little gesture Wakatoshi has shown her that by the end of the day she might end up feeling like she owns him a favor. Maybe that’s why she suggests what she suggests without any proper thinking, jumping into things in her own impulsive and sweet way. 

“Why don’t we all go together? We could stop by a convenience store to get our own lunch. And at the end you could have a little match, just for the fun of it.” She does notice how she unconsciously included herself in the equation, teaming up with her rescue boys like they were lifeguards. It is nice though, to be part of a different kind of family that she’s used to. There is her family, of course, thn her band, and her friends, and she loves all of them dearly in ways that shouldn’t even be possible for a single human being. But it is nice to have a new group of friends to feel so comfortable with, to slide in the slot with her name on top as if she’s always belonged amongst them.

“Well, in that case, there’s no need to stop by a convenience store. These two brought enough food it would last for a week,” Koshi says, smirking and indicating the two culprits, Shoyo and Tobio, who are still trying to fight Kei for being too stubborn and not wanting to practice with them when that’s the only reason they’re going on this trip anyway. 

“I thought it was supposed to be more of a-- bonding experience, rather than practice,” Tadashi says, adding to Kei’s argument. 

“What could be a better bonding experience than playing volleyball together! Think! Imagine all of us playing a mock match against Shiratorizawa in that beautiful clearing in the woods or whatever you call it--”

“You’ve never even been there, how can you know that it is beautiful,” Kei suddenly chimes in again, moving the headphones away from his ears that much enough to hear his own voice but to pretend to not hear the others. It’s pretty much of a smart technique and Natsuko chuckles as she witnesses it first-hand. “Tanaka senpai was probably exaggerating when he described the place. Moreover, if I was you I’d be suspicious about it. Aren’t you curious about what Tanaka senpai was doing in the middle of the woods? Maybe he saw a ghost and needs company to get the courage to go see it again.”

“An-- You think-- A ghost?” Natsuko’s voice gets all small, as if it too was trying to hide all of a sudden. She likes to consider herself strong and brave, but everyone knows that she’s a terrible scaredy-cat, one mention of a ghost is enough to send chills deep down her bones. 

“Don’t worry,” Tobio tells her, putting a warm hand on her shoulder, skin touching skin, everything turning a shade of warm pink as if strawberry sunglasses had been put in front of her eyes. “There’s nothing to worry about. All this talk about ghosts is stupid--”

“Thank you, Kage--”

“-- because everyone knows that Miyagi’s ghost resides in the old Ryuzaki mansion. Why would there be more than one ghost in Miyagi? This place isn’t worth being haunted.”

A beat of silence follows. Someone giggles in the background but the message must not get through to Tobio. 

“I don’t think you did a good job at comforting her.”

Natsuko is aware of the conversation that’s enrolling in front of her, but she’s also aware of the calming and borderline lulling presence of Wakatoshi next to her. Their hands are so close she could pretend a gesture and brush against his, but the mere thought makes her flush like an overripe cherry. 

“Don’t worry,” he tells her, and she has to look into his eyes, because there’s always something faintly demanding and firm about him and his voice especially, so she can only hope he won’t notice the blushing. “I don’t think ghosts are real. But if there is one you will be protected.” He doesn’t say by whom, but Natsuko decides that the reassurance implied him as the knight in shining armour. Today seems to be a collection of nice little moments, sights and words and touches that get engraved onto her skin by the scorching sun of midsummer. If only she could, she’d make a garland of them and wear them around her neck. But the memories will suffice for now. And then, when she’s back home and with paper and enough sharp pencils besides her, she can transform each of them into a pretty song. She does that often, writing songs about people she meets, people she loves, moments she doesn’t want to forget, gestures and smiles that touch her heart. She’d never admit that though, it would be way too embarrassing, so all she can do is play them on the stage and hope for the love to reach the hearts and minds of whoever lives in her immortal music. 

And so off they go. The two teams eventually merge and mix together, leaving Natusko to study them and their dynamics with curiosity.

“Do you know Mrs. GREEN APPLE?” Kei asks her at a certain point during the itinerary. Natsuko shakes her head energetically, messing her hair. He pulls his headphones down on his neck and pats his pockets in search of a pair of smaller earphones, already passing her one so that they can share. “It’s a great band,” is what he says. _I found them thanks to an anime,_ is what he doesn’t say, because it would sound a little bit less intriguing. Not that she’d judge anyway.

And so for most of the route to the clearing in the middle of the woods, Natsuko and Kei share earphones and listen to music together. Right where the group begins, she can see Shoyo and Tobio passing each other a volleyball, eventually landing it onto someone’s head and getting scolded. And not listening anyway, pursuing with their little passion-obsession hidden by the needed and pleasant coolness of the air here where the tall trees can hide them from the relentless sun. 

Eventually, they arrive at the point Ryunosuke meant, and Natsuko must admit that it does look beautiful indeed. The trees here suddenly disappear, leaving an almost perfectly circular clearing. It makes her think of witches and nature and earthy secrets and fae rings. It definitely looks like a place taken straight out of a fantasy book and the rest of the group looks as gleefully surprised as her.

Ryunosuke puts his hand on his waist and puffs his chest. “Told y’all, didn’t I? Fucking magnificent--”

“Hey! Mind your language!

“Yessir, sorry sir!”

The Karasuno boys set up tablecloths on the ground right on the edges of the clearing, piling all the food together and letting Natsuko and the Shiratorizawa boys ascertain that they not only have enough food for them as well, but that everyone is going back home with leftovers of rice and onigiris. 

A small group of boys, both from Karasuno and Shiratorizawa, lead by Kinoshita decide to bring back the whole ghost talk, because _why not, it’s fun,_ and decide to go visit the little rundown and forgotten by gods temple, teasing Natsuko a bit and taking the opportunity to explore a little. They already know what the main event will be and obviously so does everyone else. By the time they’re gone, there is a mock court, with a net tied to a couple of trees, and the lines of the court carefully and methodically drawn on the ground with sticks. 

“Who the hell brought a _net_ to a pic-nic?!” Natsuko exclaims, surprised, as she takes a seat on one of the cloths, ready to enjoy her afternoon.

“You shouldn’t be that surprised!” tells her Daichi. “With our duo in the team, it’s already surprising that they didn’t bring wooden planks and a scoreboard. By the way, would you mind keeping the score for us?”

“Oh! Sure! No problem! Is it gonna be just like a normal match?” And perhaps she already knows that the word _normal_ doesn’t fit even before it slips past her teeth and out of her mouth. Because there is nothing normal about these splendid and passion-devoured players and she knows that. The voracious look on Shoyo’s face is enough to testify that. However, Daichi nods, and so she fishes a notebook and a pen out of her own little backpack, ready to do her job, hoping that the marvel of the match won’t distract her too much from her role.

It becomes hard. To keep the score. Might it be because she eventually grows too engrossed into the match, might it be because at a certain point Tobio gets subbed out to let Koshi play, and his presence plays with her nerves in many good ways. He keeps her on edge without ever being too much or making her uncomfortable. On the other hand, when he asks her to let him see the scores and various points, and their hands brush as she passes him the notebook, a hint of vanilla-saccharine dizziness hits her veins. And she gets the thought that whoever will end up holding these hands into theirs will be as lucky as a national champion.

And so the afternoon drifts towards the evening as quickly as the clouds pass in the sky. The pic-nic part is a mess, but they all end up laughing a lot, especially Natsuko, so she deems it a major success. She even got some sushi. By the time they leave the clearing and head back towards the school, the entire day starts fading at the corners, like a dream that you can’t quite catch after waking up.

“So how was the temple? Found any ghost?” Ryunosuke asks Kinoshita as they walk under the sudden frail breeze of summer evening. 

“Why are you asking, senpai? Do you regret not coming with us just because you lost the match?”

“Hey! We didn’t lose the match! We stopped at a very fair tie-- Hey, Natsuko-chan, what were the scores by the way?”

“32 to 32.”

“See? We didn’t lose shi-- I mean, we didn’t lose _anything_! We just had to suspend because it was time to go home. And we will set things next time we have an opportunity to play together and crush them.”

“A tie is a tie. IF you didn’t manage to crush us today, there’s no reason we’ll allow you to do that next time,” a guy from Shiratorizawa whose name Natsuko doesn’t remember retorts. 

It’s fun, the playful banter. Moreover, they all keep talking about a next time and she really hopes that she’s included into the wishes of a shared future again. 

When she gets a call from her father it doesn’t come to her as a surprise. The sun is landing and despite it being summer, the sky reddish like peaches and wild berries without name, it is still getting pretty late. Moreover, she was never supposed to be away all day in the first place. Once they’re back in front of the Karasuno High School, his father flashes the car’s lights at her and turns the engine off, giving her a few minutes to say goodbye to her friends. 

There’s a sick melancholy about it, the one that drags the summer away, the one that sticks to you when you leave a place you love. It feels a bit like moving away. Like leaving home behind for the uncertainty of a future you didn’t ask for. She must have enjoyed the day more than she realizes if she can already feel the sting of melancholic tears pricking the corners of her eyes like stars asking for permission to fall. Anyway, despite her shyness she says bye to almost everyone with a tight hug, and for now it is enough to placate the longing and yearning ready to take the place of her friends. 

Then, right before she leaves, Wakatoshi goes to stand in front of her. He’s looking away as he hands her a neatly folded piece of paper, but his eyes are back on her when he talks, with a soft cadence in his voice that she has never heard before. “In case you get lost again. Or not. In case you want me to go to another pic-nic. Or not. Just-- in case.”

When Natsuko looks down, a string of numbers plays with her eyes. Wakatoshi just gave her his phone number. _Oh my God,_ she thinks. “Oh my God,” she says, before she can stop herself. A hand flies to cover her mouth, and it happens to be the one that was holding the piece of paper, which ends up pressed against her lips, like a kiss so weird and so not of a kiss that could only happen in a dream. She would like to say something clever and interesting now, not look like she’s trying to swallow down the number Wakatoshi just gave her, but words fail her. However, that doesn’t seem to bother him at all. He smiles. A smile so tentative and fleeting that she could have just imagined it if it wasn’t for the image of it being already stuck in her mind, replaying like a record someone broke on purpose. 

Finally, she lowers her hand, as her father turns the car on once again, clearly signaling her that it’s time to salute her friends and leave. “Just in case,” she mumbles, warm cheeks having nowhere to hide, and turns around to run towards her father’s crumpled piece of a car, humming a new melody to accompany the ending of her little summer adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! please, please let me know your thoughts either here or on cc and leave a kudo if you liked it! <3[twitter](https://twitter.com/fiirstllove)  
> 


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